Thank you for your support of SOS Thrift Shop, you are supporting vital SOS community programs! Thrift Shop Donation Drop-Off Schedule: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10 am - 2 pm. Shopping Hours: Monday - Saturday, 9 am - 4 pm.
SOS is hosting a National Indigenous Peoples Day celebration on June 21 at Memorial Plaza and the public is invited to attend!
SOS has been marking this important day internally for several years and is excited to open this event up as a shared learning opportunity and celebration. Come experience Indigenous culture including men’s and women’s traditional, jingle, and fancy shawl style dancing.
The event will take place from 5 to 6 pm. Memorial Plaza is located on Memorial Avenue between Alberni Highway and McMillan Street. If you are interested in sharing some of your Indigenous Culture during this celebration, email us at communications@sosd69.com.
See below the highlights of the Spring Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon. Thank you everyone for coming to our annual SOS Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon! To all the volunteers, dignitaries and our special musical guest Jesse Epp, thank you for celebrating with us and for making this event so special. It was wonderful to reconnect and to celebrate!
What do you do when you pass a stranger on the street? Do you smile and say hello, or do you keep your head down and keep on walking?
I think it depends on where you’ve come from. If you’re from a big city, you might not feel comfortable making eye contact. However, if you have lived here all your life or come from a smaller community, chances are you find it easier to strike up a conversation with a total stranger. And you never know, it might be the first kind gesture that stranger may have received all day. To me, that’s what kindness and community is all about.
In celebration of Kindness Week, and Random Acts of Kindness Day (today!) I am offering several ideas to help you perform some random acts of kindness towards a stranger, especially towards someone who is different from yourself. Here’s some ideas to get your going:
If you’re a gardener, take some fresh flowers to a nursing home.
Smile and say hi to the bank clerk, the grocery store cashier, the person walking their dog, the construction worker. You get the idea. It’s about just being more open and human.
Start a trend of “pay it forward” at the coffee drive-through.
Write a thank-you note to your letter carrier.
Offer to return someone’s grocery cart in the parking lot.
Let someone in ahead of you in the grocery store line.
Let someone else take the closer parking spot.
Buy a warm meal for a stranger in need.
Leave a great tip at a restaurant along with a note saying thanks for the service.
Take a basket of cookies or muffins to a new neighbour. Remember a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet. Take the time to meet them.
Sign up as a volunteer to deliver meals, pick up groceries or drive residents to their medical appointments.
Buy gift cards from a coffee shop or fast-food restaurant to give to people who are living on the street or in a shelter.
Give an unexpected compliment – “I really appreciate your great service today.” “You’re really great with your dog.” “Your garden looks beautiful.” “That’s a great colour on you.” Make it respectful, genuine, and appropriate.
Never underestimate the power of kindness to change someone’s day and possibly their life. And remember to treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you. Not because they are nice, but because you are.
SOS is working with Blue Sky Fundraising to help fundraise for SOS. They are a local company who produce savings books to help raise funds for charities and local schools such as SPCA and Ballenas Secondary School. Each book will retail at $20 each and sold at SOS Thrift Shop and at our Parksville Community Services Centre from February 13 – end of May.
Inside the Savings book readers will find many coupons from businesses in Qualicum Beach, Parksville and Nanaimo. Overall providing over $1,400 worth of savings.
For more information on Blue Sky Fundraising or the Savings Book visit www.blueskybc.com and www.savingsbook.ca.
